Notes On This Training Template
Today starts my 11th week of consistent training, with 16 weeks to go till competition day on March 31st.
Squat And Bench Press:
Squats and bench presses are performed twice a week (Mondays and Fridays) where each lift is performed for 3x5 on one day, and 1x5 (with slightly heavier weight) on the second day. Currently Mondays are Squat 1x5 and Bench 3x5, and Fridays are Squat 3x5 and Bench 1x5. The current progression strategy is linear, adding 5lbs/workout until that strategy no longer works. I’ve been 1RM testing both lifts whenever I feel I might have a good result, but I’ve decided to test each lift on it’s respective 1x5 day every 3 weeks. I’ll work up to a max single, then bad down for my planned 1x5 set. I’ll do this today on the bench press. In this way, I’m not replacing a planned workout with a test session.
The only other deviation I’ve used on these two lifts is that I’ll perform more than 5 reps on 1x5 day, IF I feel fresh and motivated to do it. This provides a bit of variation, hypertrophy stimulus, and also provides me with some confidence that I can get at least 5 reps on the next 1x5 session.
Deadlifts
These are performed every other Wednesday, using a linear progression on 1x5, adding 10 pounds each session. I’ve followed this progression faithfully up until last session where I jumped straight to 400 pounds from (I think) 380. I got 4 reps with 400 last week, so I’l, stay with 400 for the next two pulling sessions, with the plan of getting as many eps as possible on December 28th. Then it’ll be time to add weight and (likely) drop reps
Other Lifts
I start each Monday and Friday session with power cleans, working up to 5x1, attempting to add 5 pounds each session. If/when I hit a wall, I’ll back down maybe 15-020 pounds and climb back up the ladder again. My thought is that increased strength on squats and reads should improve my clean, and so far, I’m confident in this strategy.
On the Wednesdays I don’t Deadlift, I’ve been Snatching and/or Power Snatching. These are going well other than left posterior shoulder pain on the catchâ?? this is the ONLY pain I’ve experienced since I started training consistently again on September 28th.
I’m trying to finish each session with either Chins, Dumbbell Curls, or TRX Rows, but more often or not, bt the time I’m done with core lifts, time and energy are not in abundance.
Philosophy
Using sets of 5 to prepare for a power meet isn’t exactly conventional, but here are my thoughts about this strategy:
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5’s promote both strength as well as hypertrophy, in a way that saves the nervous system better than low reps do. I really never have that wasted feeling that multiple sets of low reps produce. Even after some recent big efforts, such as squatting 290x8 or pulling 367x10, I’ve felt fairly fresh the next morning
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Even though this program is built on 5’s, Im still testing the 3 lifts regularly. This not only helps me monitor my progress, it also allows me to taste heavier weights on a regular basis.
Other Notes:
I’ve had almost no pain or soreness at all over the past 11 weeks. The only exception to this would be last week where I pulled 400x4 on Thursday and then squatted 260 (3x5) the next day. On the day after these two workouts I noticed some slight adductor/hamstring soreness. That’s about it. I attribute this to a modest starting point followed by very small progressions from workout to workout.
As I mentioned artier, the only pain I’ve experienced is on snatches. Historically, any time of bench pressing with catch up with my shoulders after 4-5 weeks, but so far I’m 11 weeks in with no shoulder pain or discomfort at all. I actually attribute this to pausing my reps, which I’ve never done before. I’m amazed at how much safer this feels compared to touch and go.
Come to think of it, I’m now remembering that I was having some left knee pain walking around (never during workouts) but that’s gone away completely at this point, Not sure why,
Peaking For The Meet
If I don’t hit a wall, I’ll continue with the present strategy right up to the meet. If I DO hit a wall (which seems inevitableâ?? after all, if I don’t, I’ll be benching 280x5 and squatting 375x5 in late March, both of which seem very unlikely), I’ll need a new strategy. This strategy will involve higher weights/lower reps on some level, most likely submaximal singles, such as Sadiv sets. Even if this occurs, I’ll need some way to get recovered as fully as possible for the two weeks preceding the meet.
OK that’s about it for now, just clarifying my thoughts a bit…